Good English means using
-
Correct spelling.
-
Correct grammar.
-
Correct punctuation.
Unfortunately, the number of rules governing correctness is far
more than we can teach students before high school graduation.
Unless we define which rules
we mean when we tell students to use "good English,"
we're setting ourselves and our students up for failure.
Below, broken down into three categories of writing mechanics,
is a list of 24 essential good Enlish practices students must routinely
follow in their written work before employers
or colleges consider
them competent writers.
7 essentials of correct spelling
1. Start sentences with capital letters.
2. Capitalize the first letters of proper nouns.
3. Don't use texting abbreviations (like u r instead of
you are) unless you are sending a cell phone text message
to a close friend or family member.
4. The sure way to get a reputation for bad spelling is to confuse
homonyms such as its/its or their/their/they're.
Identify homonyms you misuse.
Learn to correct your writing to eliminate those errors.
5. Learn to spell correctly the words you use regularly,
whether they are one-syllable words or long, technical terms.
6. Don't capitalize common nouns.
7. Don't use abbreviations without first writing the term
out in full unless the abbreviation is listed in general dictionaries.
11 essentials of correct grammar
1. Write in full sentences. Don't write sentence fragments
or fuse two sentences without any conjunction or punctuation.
2. Make subjects agree with their verbs.
3. Make pronouns agree with their antecedents.
4. Make pronouns refer to the last previously mentioned
noun of the same person and number.
5. Be sure a modifier refers to something within the same
sentence.
6. Make modifiers cuddle up to the words they modify.
7. Keep your verbs in the same tense unless the time frame
you are discussing changes.
8. Maintain a single pronoun perspective. Don't, for example,
refer to singular subjects with plural pronouns.
9. Identify the verb endings that you use regularly and
get wrong. Memorize the correct endings. Keep a good reference handy
for the verbs you don't use regularly but get wrong.
10. Set your grammar check to search for the errors you
make; then use grammar check on all your writing.
11. Write shorter sentences for clarity, especially when
using electronic communications.
6 essentials of correct punctuation
1. Punctuate according to the grammar of the sentence, not
by the sound of the sentence.
2. Commas are separators. Don't join two main clauses with
commas.
3. Put a comma before a conjunction that joins main clauses
in a compound sentence,
4. Put a comma after an introductory element in a sentence
to separate it from the main clause.
5. Set off restrictive elements — those not essential
to the meaning of the main clause — with commas.
6. Put closing punctuation at the ends of sentences.
Good English usage is idiomatic
I deliberately omitted correct usage from the list of good English
rules. What is good usage depends largely on the situation.
Usage is idiomatic, not rule driven. People learn it hearing and
reading rather than by studying rules.
A student with poor usage needs to hear native speakers, read widely,
and consult a dictionary or reference guide to idioms when in doubt
as the meaning of a word or phrase.
Regularly applying these 24 rules for grammar, punctuation, and
spelling is adequate to give most writers a reputation for using
good English.
created 15-Aug-2008; updated 13-Sep.2008
